Do I ship it?

GamesBoomer ShooterBoomer Shooter + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Puzzle Boomer Shooter?

Boomer Shooter + Puzzle

Only 18 developers shipped a Puzzle Boomer Shooter in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Heretic + Hexen, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $800k, ×1281 the market median. Revenue is up 570% on the market; 16 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 570% on the market, 16 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Boomer Shooter + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $899 → $360 → $1.5k
Outcomes for Boomer Shooter + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $270 (exactly $270)
Median $899 (exactly $899)
Top 25% $2.6k (exactly $2,633)
Top 5% $805k (exactly $804,513)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 29
Announced 16
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 575% on the market, supply 60% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Boomer Shooter
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Boomer Shooter, Puzzle; all of the top 25% also carry Action, FPS, Shooter
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 1990's, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 2,071 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $900, 1 in 4 over $2.6k, 1 in 20 over $800k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Boomer Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Co-opFair16 devs · median $6.9k · 24 announced
  2. + WarFair19 devs · median $5.9k · 22 announced
  3. + DemonsFair51 devs · median $3.6k · 56 announced
  4. + Bullet TimeFair30 devs · median $1.7k · 30 announced
  5. + Psychological HorrorFair24 devs · median $1.3k · 29 announced
  6. + ZombiesFair50 devs · median $659 · 47 announced
  7. + Bullet HellFair109 devs · median $599 · 77 announced
  8. + SpaceFair39 devs · median $539 · 43 announced
  9. + Survival HorrorFair27 devs · median $449 · 28 announced
  10. + SurvivalLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  11. + Hero ShooterLong shot30 devs · median $210 · 21 announced
  12. + Female ProtagonistPoor odds36 devs · median $12k · 52 announced

All 61 pairs on the Boomer Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Heretic + Hexen $14.99 1,789 95% 54k $805k (exactly $804,513) id Software, Nightdive Studios
Hedon Bloodrite older $16.99 1,575 93% 47k $803k (exactly $802,777) Zan_HedonDev
HeXen II older $4.99 581 77% 17k $87k (exactly $86,976) Raven Software
Krampus Kills older $14.99 69 86% 2.1k $31k (exactly $31,029) DangerousBob Studio LLC
Frog Legs $2.99 195 87% 5.9k $17k (exactly $17,492) Elliott Dahle
Enigmatic Worlds $11.99 17 88% 510 $6.1k (exactly $6,115) Logic Obscure Productions
Sugar Mess - Let's Play Jolly Battle $14.99 7 85% 210 $3.1k (exactly $3,148) JollyCo
Same Room Same Day $3.99 22 40% 660 $2.6k (exactly $2,633) Bugi Games
Catalina's Horror Adventure $9.99 5 100% 150 $1.5k (exactly $1,498) Lazy Dev
Jaws of Hell $14.99 3 66% 90 $1.3k (exactly $1,349) Starving Lama Games
Crazy Neighbour $2.99 12 100% 360 $1.1k (exactly $1,076) Wamu Games
Tensor $9.99 3 100% 90 $899 (exactly $899) Orphan
Investigating Alien Cats 调查外星猫 $0.99 18 77% 540 $535 (exactly $535) AlienCats Nest

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.